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Human Gifts
HUMAN GIFTS - LEVEL ONE • Apecraft’s Blessings (Level One) — Though many of Gaia’s children use tools, none have mastered them so thoroughly as humanity. The homid focuses this mastery into the tools she uses, causing their spirits to awaken and lend her aid. An ancestor-spirit or spirit of a man-made object teaches this Gift. System:'The werewolf spends a turn concentrating, and then the player rolls Wits + Crafts (difficulty 7). Each success reduces the difficulty by one on the next roll she makes for her character to employ a tool made by human hands. The purpose is irrelevant—this Gift is equally efficacious for attempts to repair an engine, drive a car or fire a gun. '• City Running (Level One) — Humans are crea-tures of the city, raising their steel and glass nests high into the sky. This Gift allows a homid to easily scale the concrete canyons and navigate the tangled back alleys and rooftops of the urban landscape. Some lupus derisively refer to this Gift as “Climb Like an Ape.” It is taught by an ancestor-spirit or an urban city-spirit. System:'The player spends a point of Rage. For the rest of the scene, the character may climb urban features at her full movement speed, and the difficulty of all Athletics rolls to navigate through cities (running down cluttered alleys, climbing the side of buildings, leaping from rooftop to rooftop) is reduced by two. '• Dead-Eye (Level One; Book: Wild West Compendium) — Survival in the Savage West may depend on a single lucky bullet. With this Gift, a Garou makes her own luck. Even the most difficult shots can be accomplished with the assistance of this power. A Raven-spirit teaches this Gift. System: By spending one Willpower, the player can reroll any one Firearms, Archery or other missile weapon roll. Taught by: Raven-spirit • Master of Fire (Level One) — Fire-spirits were among the very first to make pacts with humanity, allowing men to warm themselves, drive off wild beasts, and clear the land. The cornerstones of civilization were laid in these simple acts, granting the spirits of flame much prestige. Homid Garou remember and continue to call upon these ancients pacts to protect themselves as the final fires of the Apocalypse loom. An ancestor-spirit or fire elemental teaches this Gift. System:'The player spends one Gnosis point. For the rest of the scene, fire inflicts bashing rather than ag-gravated damage to the Garou. '• Persuasion (Level One) — This Gift imbues a homid’s words with intrinsic credibility and conviction, causing them to ring true to the ear and lay heavy on the heart. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift. System: The player rolls Charisma + Subterfuge (difficulty 7). Success lowers the difficulty of all social rolls by one for the rest of the scene, and allows successful rolls to have uncommonly strong impact (such as changing long-held political views, or causing an addict to seriously reconsider the course of his life). • Smell of Man (Level One) — To creatures of the wild, man’s scent is death. To creatures of the city, it is authority, comfort, easy meals. This Gift, taught by an ancestor-spirit, enhances a werewolf’s human scent, infusing it with spiritual power. System: Non-supernaturalwild animals lose two dice from their dice pools when interacting with the Garou, save when defending themselves or running away, and will be inclined to flee rather than attack if possible. Domesticated animals recognize the werewolf as a friend, and even trained attack dogs will do no more than wag their tails at the character unless attacked first. This Gift’s effects are permanently active. HUMAN GIFTS - LEVEL TWO • Mark of the Wolf (Level Two) — The werewolf marks those she comes in contact with, leaving them to carry the same aura of the predator the Garou does. This subtle curse can wreak havoc in a target’s private or professional life, and is a favorite of many homids looking to provoke discord in the ranks of the enemy. A Lune teaches this Gift. System:'The player selects a target that has had some interaction with the Garou during the scene (even something as simple as light conversation in an elevator counts), then rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 7). The target inherits the Curse (see p. 262)as though she had a Rage rating equal to that of the Garou for one day per success. '• Speech of the World (Level Two) —This Gift allows Gaia’s warriors to read and wield the spirit of speech, bypassing the need to learn different languages and dialects. The Garou may speak and understand any human language she encounters, though she speaks with an obvious accent, marking her as an outsider. Speech of the World doesn’t convey literacy, nor is it an encyclopedia of cultural information. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift. System:'The player rolls Intelligence + Academics (difficulty 7). The effect lasts for one scene. '• Staredown (Level Two) — Rage burns in a were-wolf’s eyes, striking fear into the hearts of mortals and animals, causing them to flee for their lives. Used against another werewolf, the target will freeze in place rather than run. A ram- or snake-spirit teaches this Gift. System:'''This Gift affects only one target at a time. The player rolls Charisma + Intimidation (difficulty 5 + the target’s Rank, if applicable). The victim flees for one turn per success, though he may spend a point of Willpower to resist the effects of the Gift for one turn. Should the player roll five or more successes, the victim flees for the rest of the scene. Garou and other shapeshifters with Rage do not flee, but may not attack while the Gift is in use. '''HUMAN GIFTS - LEVEL THREE • Calm the Savage Beast (Level Three) — Even the most callous of homids can sympathize with the Rage that moves their fellow Garou in the final days. This Gift allows the werewolf to lend a frenzying Garou the will to escape her Rage’s hold over her. It is taught by an ancestor-spirit. System:'The player spends a Willpower point and rolls Manipulation + Primal-Urge (difficulty 8). If successful, the Willpower point soothes a frenzying Garou within 30 feet (9 m), canceling the frenzy. By spending an extra point of Willpower, this Gift may affect non-Garou in a state of frenzy, such as other shapeshifters or vampires. '• Cowing the Bullet (Level Three) — The spirits of tools recognize man as their master; as a result, they become reluctant to harm the homid. A Weaver-spirit teaches this Gift. System:'The player spends a Gnosis point. For the rest of the scene, the Garou gains two additional soak dice against all crafted weapons not made of silver. '• Disquiet (Level Three) — Pulling the mercurial tide of the target’s emotions to their lowest ebb, this Gift makes its target feel inexplicably depressed and withdrawn. The subject finds his emotions muted and concentration difficult. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift. System:'The player rolls Manipulation + Empathy against a difficulty equal to the target’s Willpower. If successful, that opponent will be unable to recover Rage for the duration of the scene, and all difficulties for extended actions increase by one. Moreover, the target becomes listless and generally less inclined to stir himself to pursue any action of dubious necessity, such as investigating strange noises. '• Reshape Object (Level Three)— The Garou can shape once-living (though not undead) material into something else instantly. Trees may become shelter, buck antlers spears,animal hides armor, and flowers sweet perfumes. The item will resemble the object from which it was created (e.g., the aforementioned spear will be made of antler, not wood). A Pattern Spider teaches this Gift. System:'The player rolls Manipulation + Crafts against a difficulty defined by the scope and complexity of the transformation (a broken tree limb into a spear would be difficulty 5, while a fallen tree into a canoe would be 8) and spends a Gnosis point. The transformation persists for one scene per success, or permanently with five or more successes. Expending an additional Gnosis point allows a created weapon to inflict aggravated damage for the remainder of the scene in which it is created. '• Tongues (Level Three)— This Gift allows the user to read or write any human language encountered, no matter how ancient or obscure. Galliards often use this Gift when translating ancient texts to revive old legends or compose new songs for Moots. This Gift is taught by a Raven-spirit. System: After spending one Willpower point, the player rolls her Intelligence+Linguistics. The obscurity and relative age of the language determines the difficulty. A common modern language such as Spanish is difficulty 4. An ancient and obscure tongue such as Etruscan, would be difficulty 10. The number of successes determines the character's fluency with the language. HUMAN GIFTS - LEVEL FOUR • Body Shift (Level Four) — Garou raised in the shifting maze of human society are well-prepared for the endless adaptations Gaia demands of her protectors. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift. System:'The Garou can use her shapeshifting to alter her physical Attributes: a dot of Dexterity can be shifted to Strength or Stamina, and so forth. The player rolls Stamina + Primal-Urge (difficulty 9). For each two successes, one physical Attribute dot can be shifted for the rest of the scene. '• Bury the Wolf (Level Four) — The war against the Wyrm isn’t always a matter of slashing claws and righteous fury — sometimes duplicity is required. A werewolf can temporarily “restrain” her inner wolf and appear to be a normal human. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift System:'The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Gnosis (difficulty of her own Willpower). Success causes the character to appear human to all supernatural scrutiny. The Gift also nullifies the Curse and makes spending Rage impossible, and locks her in homid form so long as its effects persist. The number of successes determines the Gift’s duration; to “free the wolf” before that time elapses requires a full turn of concentration and another point of Gnosis. Successes Duration One - One scene Two - 12 hours Three - One day Four - One week Five - One lunar cycle '• Cocoon (Level Four) — The werewolf wraps himself in a thick, opaque, chitinous sarcophagus, immobilizing himself but also becoming nearly impervious to harm. The cocoon provides immunity to fire, starvation, gas, high pressure, cold, and similar environmental hazards. An insect- or Weaver-spirit teaches this Gift. System:'The Garou spends one Gnosis point. While the werewolf remains in the cocoon, any attack that strikes him must do damage at least equal to his Stamina + Rituals; the cocoon keeps him safe from any lesser amount of damage, but is destroyed if it’s pierced. The cocoon lasts for one day, but its duration may be extended by spending more Gnosis to renew it. The Garou may emerge from it at any time he chooses. '• Spirit Ward (Level Four) — This Gift allows a werewolf to protect herself from spirits by performing a quick warding rite. The werewolf traces an invisible pic-togram in the air that frightens and unnerves any nearby spirits, and which travels with the Garou for as long as it persists. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift. System:'The player spends one Gnosis point and rolls Manipulation + Rituals (difficulty 7). Spirits within 100 feet (30 m) of the character must subtract one from their dice pools for each success. Any spirit that comes within 50 feet (15 m) of the character (except a caern spirit or the character’s pack totem) loses one point from its Essence per turn for each success the player rolled. This Gift lasts for one scene. '•Gaia's Embrace (Level Four; Wild West Compendium) — Known only to the Pure Ones, this Gift allows the Garou to become one with the land. If seriously wonded, the Garou may "crawl into" the earth to seek Gaia's aid. Once protected within Her womb, the wounded child is mended by the power of the Goddess. An Earth-spirit teaches this Gift. System: After suffering aggravated wounds, the Garou must be buried alive or dig his own way under the soil. This Gift sustains an interred Garou and heals his aggravated wounds at a rate of one per hour, instead of one per day. Taught by: Earth-spirit HUMAN GIFTS - LEVEL FIVE • Assimilation (Level Five) — A werewolf with this Gift blends smoothly into any culture, no matter how strange or unfamiliar he might normally find it. He could slip among Bedouin nomads as if he were one of them, or he could shop in a Chinese market without anyone noticing that he doesn’t belong. The Gift doesn’t hide racial differences, but it does allow the werewolf to mimic the behaviors and mannerisms of a native. It also grants the ability to speak and understand the culture’s language, although this knowledge vanishes as the Gift ends. It is taught by Ancestor-spirits. System: The player rolls Manipulation + Empathy. If successful, the character interacts with members of another culture as if he were one of them. The difficulty depends on how alien the culture is. Another Garou sept would be 5, while a Black Spiral hive or foreign country could be as high as 9. The character suffers no Social penalties when interacting with members of the culture, although he will enjoy no special benefits either. The Gift lasts for one scene, plus one day per Willpower point spent when activating it. • Beyond Human (Level Five)— The Garou is human plus — Human plus strength, agility and health. Human plus devoted, assured spirituality and meaning. Human plus animal instinct and lightning reflexes. Human plus righteous fury with which to meet the Apocalypse. He is as man, but greater. Every Garou radiates this to some extent, but this Gift warps that perception, changing the Garou from a figure to be avoided to one to be admired or adored. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift. System:'Once learned, this Gift’s effects are perma-nent. Humans dealing with the werewolf instinctively pick her out as more desirable, important, and interesting than those around her — regardless of the character’s capacity in such matters. The Curse still applies, but rather than being instinctively feared as a predator, the werewolf becomes an intimidating figure of great presence. Finally, the character may boost her Social Attributes by spend-ing Rage or Gnosis. Each point of either spent raises one Social Attribute by one point for the rest of the scene. Social Attributes may be raised above 5 in this fashion. '• Part the Veil (Level Five) — This potent Gift immunizes a human from the Delirium for a scene. However, the human will forget much of what he knows if exposed to the Delirium at a later date. An ancestor-spirit teaches this Gift. 'System:'The player spends a Gnosis point and rolls Charisma + Empathy. Only one success is needed.